Interview with Scott Robbin, creator of Tappity
Tappity is a mobile phone service that has formed a community around sites that are optimized for mobile use. It also serves as a frontpage of sorts, for your mobile phone. It's got a pretty high level of interactivity through mobile phone usage, as users can submit and vote for sites they like. In this sense, Tappity becomes much like a social search engine for your cell phone. It's apparent that technology and culture are moving in the direction of centralizing the mobile device, but it's companies like Tappity that take the initiative to create applications ready for today that provide a great deal of value for our current lifestyles.
I got a chance to chat with Scott Robbin, the creator of Tappity, regarding his first start-up from his parent company Halobrite.
So tell me about Tappity. Is it more of a hub for sites that are optimized for mobile phones? Or is it a mobile search engine?
Well, it's a bit of both... or, i should say, it serves two purposes. Much like Digg, we appeal to two users; the first is the type of person who owns a phone, and just wants to be able to find things easily. For that type of person, Tappity is a place where they can go to create a personalized mobile homepage.
Oh wow. What's included in that?
For the most part, they'll find the things that they need, put them on a homepage, will use it as needed. Right now, by default, we're putting Google Local Search, Yelp, PriceGrabber, Wikipedia, Fandango, Flickr, and BBC News. When a user registers, they give us a zip code. The Google Local and Yelp items (amongst others) take advantage of this fact by automatically providing locale-based results. Plus, a user can change their location on-the-fly, if they go out of town.
So, to make a semi-weak correlation to Digg, these are they same type of users that go to the homepage to read stories. They have no real interest in taking part of the process. They're more interested in using the service as a means to an end.
So then for the other type of user, Tappity is good for submissions?
Yes, for the other type, there are users who love discovering things and sharing them. Additionally, they like participating in rating systems.
These people are generally tech enthusiasts, developers, or people who just love fact that the Internet is a great resource to learn new things.
So back to the Digg correlation; how does the rating system work?
We have an algorithm that takes into account which sites are most used, how their rated, and how their reported (our system of reporting spam). All of these factors are combined together to create a search ranking. Users have a direct impact on that rank.
And then those rankings are applied to a user's specific search?
Yes, which is why we straddle the line between being a mobile portal and mobile search. Those rankings will not only affect their search, but everyone's. Basically, we created Tappity in response to .mobile and PageRank.
You've got a lot going on here! Not only do you cater to these two types of users, but you're a semi self-regulated UGC system as well.
Yeah, we're trying to simplify the process and idea to people by saying that Tappity is a place where they can come to find things on their phone. Once there, we use design techniques to help which users figure out what kind of user they are. From there, we're hoping that people develop patterns, and give us feedback, so we can tweak that experience. So far, we've gotten amazing feedback on the site, and have already started adapting.
So, the problem that existed, which we tried to solve was: how do you find mobile sites? Where do they exist?
In terms of providing a mobile solution, it's kind of nice to have a service like yours that's being proactive, and not having to deal with partnerships (or lack thereof) between carriers, manufacturers and the big 3.
...
Yes! It's a great point. All of these partnerships and affiliations that Google, Yahoo, and MSN have actually hinder the mobile market before it even takes off.
Absolutely! It's been rather frustrating. But then, it may just create better opporunities for you.
We're in an enormous period of growth in the mobile market right now. We haven't even scraped the surface of how powerful retrieving information on your phone can be. There are a ton of creative developers out there, most of which are amateur programmers at home, creating mashups and whatnot. Those are the people who make the web exciting. They've got nothing to loose. The point is, the Big Three are too concerned with their shareholders to really make exiting mobile leaps. It's the average Joe that's going to radically change the way we think. Tappity is just there to give those people a platform to be noticed.
Are you self-funded, and how many people are on your team?
Yes, we're self funded. There are two of us developing Tappity, myself and my friend/partner, Jeff Skinner. Jeff and I have been friends for the past 15 years and developing websites together for 8 years. Jeff lives in Iowa City and (as you know) I'm in Chicago. We do all of our development remotely. Ain't the Internet grand?
What's your previous expereince? Have you done other projects for mobile service solutions?
Previous experience? Well, I don't like to brag, but we're the creative genius behind the Coming Soon splash page for HotDogDingDongBingBong.com.
Seriously though, Jeff and I have a lot of experience developing together, but Tappity is our most ambitious project.
We've created mobile service solutions before, but this is the first that we've launched from our company, Halobrite.
Previously, an totally unrelated to Halobrite, I had done a personal mobile project which had been received well and had gotten some press. It was dubbed "srobbin Mobile Video" and was released on my personal website. Basically, it was a hack on Google Video RSS feeds that allowed users to download/view videos on their phones.
(To be viewed from a phone)
http://srobbin.com/mobilevideo/
It got picked up by a few big sites, like CNET, and in recent months, I've been contacted by companies like Nokia to include it as a bookmark in their phones. Frankly, I'm a bit surprised by the response that it's gotten. In my mind, it's not nearly as elegant as Tappity.
How will you prevent cell phone carrier companies from cutting you off?
To be honest, we've never really thought about that. I'm not sure that we're a threat to the carriers, are we? In fact, we see Tappity as being something that they'd want to promote themselves. As more and more people use the mobile web, carriers will benefit enormously from phone upgrades (resulting in contract extensions), and increased enrollment in data plans.
Where do you see the overall trend going for mobile technology?
AJAX.
The mobile web needs AJAX. Why make server calls for entire pages when small bits of information can be retrieved? It's perfect for the low-bandwidth mobile environment. Browsers like Opera-Mini and what appears to be in store for iPhone's Safari, are leaders in this field, but it's not yet widely adapted. The mobile web will experience a tremendous period of growth, equal to or surpassing that of Web 2.0, when AJAX supported browers become the default on phones.
Yes, we're self funded. There are two of us developing Tappity, myself and my friend/partner, Jeff Skinner. Jeff and I have been friends for the past 15 years and developing websites together for 8 years. Jeff lives in Iowa City and (as you know) I'm in Chicago. We do all of our development remotely. Ain't the Internet grand?
What's your previous expereince? Have you done other projects for mobile service solutions?
Previous experience? Well, I don't like to brag, but we're the creative genius behind the Coming Soon splash page for HotDogDingDongBingBong.com.
Seriously though, Jeff and I have a lot of experience developing together, but Tappity is our most ambitious project.
We've created mobile service solutions before, but this is the first that we've launched from our company, Halobrite.
Previously, an totally unrelated to Halobrite, I had done a personal mobile project which had been received well and had gotten some press. It was dubbed "srobbin Mobile Video" and was released on my personal website. Basically, it was a hack on Google Video RSS feeds that allowed users to download/view videos on their phones.
(To be viewed from a phone)
http://srobbin.com/mobilevideo/
It got picked up by a few big sites, like CNET, and in recent months, I've been contacted by companies like Nokia to include it as a bookmark in their phones. Frankly, I'm a bit surprised by the response that it's gotten. In my mind, it's not nearly as elegant as Tappity.
How will you prevent cell phone carrier companies from cutting you off?
To be honest, we've never really thought about that. I'm not sure that we're a threat to the carriers, are we? In fact, we see Tappity as being something that they'd want to promote themselves. As more and more people use the mobile web, carriers will benefit enormously from phone upgrades (resulting in contract extensions), and increased enrollment in data plans.
Where do you see the overall trend going for mobile technology?
AJAX.
The mobile web needs AJAX. Why make server calls for entire pages when small bits of information can be retrieved? It's perfect for the low-bandwidth mobile environment. Browsers like Opera-Mini and what appears to be in store for iPhone's Safari, are leaders in this field, but it's not yet widely adapted. The mobile web will experience a tremendous period of growth, equal to or surpassing that of Web 2.0, when AJAX supported browers become the default on phones.
